The Truth: Public Enemy Number One
by The Purple Maid
Summary: Darren Shan has been dead for Years, or so everyone thought. What happens when the Shans watch the news one day to discover their Son is alive? But with Darren living a new life he's always been destined, How will they affect his destiny? And more importantly, how will they affect the vampire clan as a whole? REWRITE-SOON TO BE COMPLETED.
1. The News

**Chapter One**

Darren Shan had been dead for over six years now, time had passed, and the rest of the Shan family had moved on; moved on as much as they could. Yes, it was true that it still pained them sometimes; young Annie Shan would burst into tears each time she saw a tarantula, but apart from a few expected occurrences, they had almost gotten over it. They knew that their loving son and brother was dead and buried, gone, and never coming back. Not ever, or at least, not as far as they knew…  
"Annie! Will you come set the table, please?" Angela Shan shouted to her Daughter. It was nice for her to have Annie round for Dinner, even if it happened almost every night of the week, it meant she got to spend time with her-which was rare considering Annie now had her own house, and a child to support. Dinner time was family time, and Annie was always happy to help out.  
"Coming." Annie yelled back, as she casually flicked through the channels on the TV. Her young Son, Darius, was playing at her feet-watching the movements and colours on screen as if he was almost hypnotised. She placed the remote down and walked into the dining room, leaving the television to flash with the BBC one logo, where the news had just begun.  
"Good evening, and welcome to the six o'clock news." The reporter read, whilst gently shuffling his papers. The Shan's never generally tended to watch the news-it was too depressing; Too full of death and torture, too full of memories they had tried to leave behind all these years-But none of them had noticed, nor did they care, that the man on the television had begun updating them on the current world, it wasn't as if any of them were listening.  
"Dermot, darling!" Angela yelled up the stairs, "Dinner'll be ready in five minutes!" Stepping back into the kitchen, she was followed by her daughter, who had already done the job she had been given-She was super quick at it now, she had done it enough times before.  
"I'll go feed Darius whilst we're waiting!" She smiled, picking up a bowl of vegetables from the countertop "It'll save us a job afterwards!" She walked back into the living room, and, kneeling down beside her son, cooed as she tried to force the food into his mouth. "Here comes the choo choo train!" She grinned. Sure, Darius-Now bordering on the age of two-may have been too old for that sort of thing, but he was a child that would be nurtured as much as he could be; cooed and rocked until he was old enough to tell his mother to stop. Nurturing her child in such a way made Annie feel so much better about her life; it gave her something to live for.  
"No, Mama! Bad!" Darius protested, causing his mother to scowl.  
"Darius you need to eat your vegetables. Or you won't grow up to be a big, strong boy, will you?"  
"No, Mama. Dar, dar." Annie sighed. She had always wanted her brother to play a part in Darius's life, even if he couldn't, but she had had her son remember him. She had shown him pictures and videos, and now, in response to any of these things, he would immediately scream "Dar, Dar!"  
"Now Darius, there isn't any pictures of Darren in here, is there?"  
"Tee, tee!" He pointed to the television, and Annie turned around to look. Upon seeing the picture of the screen, she froze. She rushed back over to the couch, and gripped the remote in her free hand, the bowl still in the other, before rewinding the show back to the start.  
"And our top story tonight is about a group of Serial Killers in…" She stiffened, the bowl and remote simultaneously dropping from her hands, and landing on the ground-spewing vegetables everywhere. Taking deep breaths, she paused the television, closing her eyes and calming herself before calling her mother into the room. "Mum, Come here please...It's...It's kind of important."  
"What is it?" Angie asked, coming into the room, pulling oven gloves off her hands. "There's nothing wrong with Darius is there, because if there is-" She stopped as she saw the Tv, her mouth agape "Oh my god…" she mumbled quietly, taking a seat next to her child. Annie just nodded. "It...It can't be…" Angela stuttered "Press play, An, hunny." Annie picked up the remote and clumsily fumbled for the play button, dropping it again when the man on the screen began to move. "If you see these men, do not approach them. They are thought to be armed and extremely dangerous. They have so far claimed the lives of many, and we believe they will do so again. All of their victims have been found drained of their blood and the police have christened the group as…" He paused, pressing his finger to his ear-obviously receiving some new information for his earpiece. "This just in!" He continued "The police have officially named the suspected serial killers as Vancha March, Vur Horston and Harkat Mulds. With the last, and apparently youngest, member of the group known under two identities-Darren Horston and Darren Shan." The room seemed to go silent for a second, the sound of the TV a distant blur in the background, as the two Shan women processed the words they had just heard. It couldn't have been there Darren. It was obviously a different Darren Shan-A huge coincidence-The picture of the boy in the top corner had only a slight resemblance to the boy they had buried all those years ago. "If you see these people please call the police immediately and do not, under any circumstances make contact with them." The four pictures in the corner enlarged so that between them they covered the entire screen. The first two images were artists interpretations of two grown men-They both looked extremely violent, and very tough. The next image was a colour photograph, of a man with a grew face, covered in stitches-with a small wide mask covering his mouth. If anyone had been watching this right now, it was almost certain that their attention would have been focused on the inhuman little man-But the Shan girls could not have cared less about him right now. Another picture had their attention; The fourth image. Just like the third it was a colour photograph, but they knew this boy. There was no doubt about it, it was Darren. He only looked a year or two older than when he had died, but had the addition of many scratches and burns of his face.  
"It...It can't be…" Angela stuttered again, but Annie shook her head.  
"It is...Look at it…"  
"No it isn't." Angela insisted, her voice growing in anger "Darren's dead and buried and nothing will bring him back."  
"But...look at it mum…" She knelt down in front of the now paused TV, her eyes staring into that of the image of her brother. "It's him. You know it is."  
"It's impossible" Angie was nearly crying now, unlike Annie who already had silent tears falling down her cheek.  
"Darius." Annie said, attracting her son's attention. "You were right, it is Dar, Dar!"  
"Oh, What's happening in there?" Dermot's voice was heard from in the kitchen "Us men need feeding you know!" He laughed jokingly before entering the room and seeing the girls faces. "Ang? Annie? What's wrong?"  
"It's him, Dad.." Annie half smiled through her tears.  
"Who?" Dermot was now as confused as he was concerned.  
"Darren…" she explained "He's alive."  
"No, he's not. Enough of this nonsense, we've told you this before. He's dead." Dermot insisted, anger now evident in his voice "Tell her Ang." he ordered to Angela, who merely shook her head.  
"It's true Dermot, I know it's impossible. But it's true." She whispered in reply "Look at the television." At this, Annie moved out of the way of the screen so that her father could see it.

"It's...it's just a coincidence." He insisted, his voice sounding shakier as he saw the picture.  
"No, Dad. It's him. It even said his name."

"Why did it say his name?" He asked.

"It said he... it said he was... "Both Angela and Annie froze as the realisation hit them "It said he was a serial killer." They chorused.

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS." Dermot shouted "THAT BOY ON THE TELEVISION IS NOT DARREN. DARREN IS DEAD. THAT BOY IS A STUPID, RIDICULOUS SERIAL KILLER!" At his, Darius started crying loudly and the two girls looked shocked.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT MY SON LIKE THAT!" Angela screamed .

"He is not your son. Our son is dead."

"You look into his eyes and tell me that." Angela burst out into loud, angry sobs. Dermot lent in front of the TV, and stared into the photographic Darrens eyes, before sighing. His sigh almost admitting defeat, admitting what he had known from the start. "You're right. It is him, but... he's dead and, he's not a killer. Is he?"

"Of course not, but there's only one way to find out the truth." Annie answered confidently, wiping tears from her eyes.

"You don't mean...?" Angie only managed to say half a sentence, before breaking down into sobs again.

"Yes, we need to go find Darren."


	2. The Spider

**This chapter mainly focuses on the Shans emotions, and is a bit boring! But please don't get put off :)**

Chapter Two

"Dad? Are we nearly there?" Annie yawned as the street lights flashed by the car window, lighting up the darkness of the cold night. The Shans had been driving for a long while; to where, they werent exactly sure, all they knew was that they were going to find their son.

"I don't know, An. I hope so..." he sighed "I can't remember the exact name of the place. I know it's in this general direct, but..." he trailed off, unsure how to tell them he was pretty sure they were lost.

"Fat lot of good you are!" His wife snapped back at him (she was still angry at him for calling her some a crazy serial killer), causing Darius-who was asleep in the back of the car-to begin to stir.

"Shh, mum!" Annie complained "You'll wake up Darius!" Angie sighed, shaking her head slowly.

"I still don't understand..." she sobbed "he was dead...we buried him...his neck was snapped..."

"I know, Ang." Dermot look one hand off the steering wheel, and reassuringly placed it on his wifes shoulder. "No one does...its...its a miracle..."

"But...but...we thought we was dead..." she paused, the realisation dawning on her that... "he lied to us! He let us think he was dead and...and...he lied...why would he lie to us?!" Annie thought for a second about what her mother was saying. Why would Darren have lied to them? Because he didn't want to get in trouble, perhaps? Yeah, that might be why. Just like he didn't want to get in trouble before he had died-like he had made her lie about the cirque, and about the spider. Wait, the spider.

"The spider..." Annie mumbled to herself, she finally understood.

"Huh, hun?" Angie sniffed through her tears "is there a spider? Its okay, just let it out the window."

"No, mum. It was the spider...it was all the spider."

"Annie, sweetie, you're not making any sense. What spider?" She questioned "Tell us about the spider." Annie sighed again, before proceeding to tell her parents every last detail of what had happened those years ago. All about the cirque, and steve, and the spider. When she had finished, a eerie silence filled the car.

"So thats why he started playing the flute..." her mother mumbled, tears flowing down her face.

"Yeah" Annie nodded "And...see, he stole the spider. Madam something...madam octa, i think." She nodded again "And i think the spiders rightful owner came back to get her. I think he...he killed Darren. Or...at least pretended to." She spat her words as if her throat had tightened-she was obviously finding it hard to speak now.

"But we saw his broken neck...he had no heartbeat...someone...someone did that to him?" Angie cried, yet Dermot still remained silent. Annie didn't have a response either. If only she had told her parents about the cirque, about what the spider had done to Steve. True, her brother would have gone to jail, but he'd still be with them. Still legally classed as living-rather than running around some town as an accused living-dead serial killer. If only she had...but no, she hadn't. She hadn't done any of those things. And what had happened had happened. It was too late to stop any of it now-and there was quiet voice in the back of her head, calling out to her, whispering, that there was nothing she could have done. It had just been destiny all along.


	3. First Sight

**Chapter Three**

Please excuse the boring-ness of this chapter! I promise that after this chapter the story WILL get better! Much better :) 

"That'll be Twenty Pounds and Three pence, please." The cashier yawned, glancing at the clock. It was 8pm; nearly his clocking off time. Dermot pulled out his wallet, revealing a twenty pound note, which he handed to the cashier. "Three pence please, Sir."

"Sorry, I don't have any change." Dermot sighed, he had slightly overfilled is care-True, by only three pence, but they had needed gas, and it was only an accident. Surely he could be let off three pence. "Please, it's just three pence."  
"Sir, you're holding up the line."  
"Please. I am on my way to find my son, who, until recently, was thought to be dead. You can let me off three-" He paused, noticing the TV about the counter, which was flashing red with the news logo-and the four pictures he had seen on the television earlier. Only this time, the words "Sighted" shone in bright red over Darren's photo. "Can you turn that up?"  
"Huh?" The man snorted.  
"The television." Mr Shan grabbed the remote from behind the till, turning the volume up so the entire station could hear it.  
"Breaking news." The reporter read "It appears that one of the group known as, "The Vampires," Has been sighted. Darren Horston, Or Darren Shan, has been seen attempting to purchase sun cream in a store in the town of-"  
"Sir!" The cashier snatched the remote back out of his hands, growing annoyed with the other man "Three pence." But Dermot ignored him.  
"Shhh." He hushed, as the news continued.  
"And the police have been given permission to open fire at the group when they are found." Before he finished his sentence, Dermot had began to dash out of the door, and back to his car.  
"They're gonna shoot him." He panted to his family, slamming the car door closed, and clumsily reaching to turn the keys in the ignition. "We have to go. The town, it'...it's not far from here. I've seen signs…" He paused, letting them process what he was saying.  
"Kill him?" Angie squealed, fresh tears bubbling in her eyes. "They can't! He's our son...He's...our son…" Annie remained silent in shock, as her dad slammed his foot on the accelerator, pushing the car forwards at a highly unnecessary speed. They shot out of the garage and down the road, much faster than they needed to-Angie gripping tightly onto the side of the car, not used to travelling so fast. "Dermot! Slow down!" He obeyed, but only because of the traffic lights that were glowing red, showing they were now entering the next town. The town they had been meaning to find all along. The town in which Darren was said to be currently residing.  
"We're...we're here." He whispered, pulling the car into the car park of the first hotel they saw. The three of them, and Darius, sat in silence; staying still, and making no sort of movement that involved them leaving the vehicle.  
"So…" Annie broke the quiet, un-clipping Darius from his car seat, saving her a job to do when she got out. "We should..uh...Go?" Her parents nodded, stepping out into the cold air. It was dark now, the streetlights the only things making it possible for them to see.  
"Right, we should go get a room for the night." Dermot decided, indicating to the building behind him. "We can search for Darren tomorrow."  
"No, Dermot, Please…" Angie put her hands around her husband's waist, "We need to go find him. Before they find him...Before they hurt him…" Dermot sighed, knowing his life wouldn't be able to rest until they had at least tried.  
"Okay." He nodded "You take Annie and Darius inside, get us a room I'll take a walk, see if i can spy him, okay?"  
"No, let me come with you!" She pleaded "I'm not going to sleep until i have him back…"  
"Angie, i'm not so sure if that's-"  
"Shh." Annie hushed suddenly.

"Annie!" He father snapped back, "Don't be so rude!"  
"No, Dad! Shhh!" She hushed, "Look!" she insisted, pointing into the shadows across the road. She heard her mum gasp, and knew they had seen them. Silhouettes of a couple-A man and a woman-Had appeared in the darkness, Sat next to the streetlight. The Shans stood, watching, as the man stood up, and flung the woman over his shoulder; she squirmed, but no noise other than a few un-register-able sounds flew from her mouth-She was obviously gagged. The man began to walk down the street, being careful to avoid the light as much as he could-But he didn't do so well, and once the street light hit his face he was instantly recognisable. Vancha March-One of Darrens associates. "Annie." Dermot whispered. "Take Darius and go inside. Now." Annie was about to object, but after a little thought, she grabbed her son and ran into the hotel-leaving her mother and father behind. "Ang, Listen to me." Angie nodded. "I'm going to follow him. He has to lead us to Darren-I want you to go Inside and-"  
"No," She shook her head "I'm coming with you." Dermot didn't push the matter any further. He had two choices; take his wife with him, or lose his only lead to finding their son. He was going to take he with him, yes; she could always leave again if things got too dangerous. He simply nodded, his eyes still trained on the pair across the road, who had now stopped again. Vancha had his eyes glued to the manhole cover in the middle of the street, examining it, and then his surroundings, before placing his hostage on the ground beside him, and kneeling down in front of it. Sweat dripped from his green hair, and his face was bright red-he had obviously been running; but away from, or to something, who knew. Looking up at the cosmic black sky, stared at the stars that shone in the darkness, before looking back down at the cover. "Not until dark." he whispered to himself, pulling the huge lid out of the ground-to reveal the sewers beneath-and, with the woman back over his shoulder, jumping down into their depths. "Come on." Dermot whispered to the wife, before the pair of them followed the so-called 'vampire' and the woman into the pit that was the underground, determined to find the boy they had buried so many years ago.

**Please review? :)**


	4. The Tunnels

**Chapter Four**

The darkness blanketed the tunnels, making it nearly impossible for the humans to see. Angela clung to her husband as they stood under the entrance, letting their eyes adjust. Dermot took one step forward slowly, encouraging his wife to do the same; they stayed as silent as they could, trying not to alert the 'vampire' and his hostage to their presence. They walked through the tunnel; every step they took was taken with caution and every breath they breathed was slow and heavy. They were taking no seemed like an eternity before the tunnel branched out, making them choose their path. The two of them stood still, waiting to hear any signs of life-They should have been able to hear Vancha-the tunnels were silent-but Vancha was fast and had rocketed ahead of the pair. "Which way?" Angela mumbled shakily."I don't know." Dermot sighed in reply "We could..." His sentence was cut short by obvious screams of anger coming from one of the tunnels; It must have been Vanchas voice because they hadn't heard anyone else down there and the woman had been gagged. "STUPID HUMANS!" he yelled, causing Angela to jump with fright. "He thinks he's a vampire, doesn't he?" she cried quietly. Her husband nodded, not that she saw, but she didn't push him for a spoken answer; simply followed him as he began to make his way down the tunnel from which the voice had echoed. The voice grew clearer and louder as they walked-no longer shouting, its words were soft and slow, as if it was talking to a toddler. When the Shans had gone as far as they wished-or rather, as far as they risked to go without being caught-they stood, and listened. "I'm the good guy." Vancha sighed, for what seemed like the one millionth time. "We. Are. The. Good. Guys. The vampaneze are the bad guys. They've been killing the people." Dermot felt his wife tighten her grip on his arm, and felt the need to reassure her. He didn't see why, they were currently in the middle of the sewers following a mass murderer and a hostage in the slight hope of finding their deceased son, there wasn't much that would reassure her.  
"He's just talking nonsense, Ang. Just…" He stalled "Just concentrate on finding Darren, Yeah?" He flicked his head around, nearly too fast, just as his sentence had ended. More Voices coming from the darkness behind them. Momentarily forgetting about Vancha and his hostage, he grabbed his wife, dragging her into one of the other adjoining tunnels. She didn't question it-she had heard the voices too. They sat in the shadows, breathing slowly, trying not to make a sound, as the voices-as well as their footsteps-grew closer and closer.  
"D'you think Vancha made it?" A young voice questioned-a hint of recognition sparked in their brains. The voice seemed so oddly familiar, but yet not at all.  
"I certainly hope so." Came a reply "If not, then we shall suffer greatly when the time comes to fight." Fight? Who would they be fighting? There was no one down here but themselves and Vancha, who, apparently, was their ally. They didn't have time to linger on the thought though, as four shadows emerged at the entrance to the tunnel Dermot and Angela were hiding in, walking past as quickly as they came-though that didn't mean Dermot hadn't been able to get a good look at them. Two of them had been of men-whether young or old he could not tell-but they were both quite tall, one more than the other. The third had been of a woman, her hair tied back in a ponytail, and the fourth? Well, he assumed the fourth-a small figure, that could be not yet have hit double figures in age-was her child.  
"Stay silent, and follow me." Dermot instructed as the figures passed. He walked back down to the tunnel entrance, and stuck his head around the corner-now able to see what was happening. The four figures had continued down the tunnel and were now entering what appeared to be a large room, turning on their torches as they entered.  
"Stay quiet." The female voice instructed, as they searched the room using their torchlight. It was only when the light hit the shorter males face, that Angela gasped, muttering words to herself.  
"Did you hear that?" The man asked, but everyone appeared to shake their heads.  
"Hear what?" The woman asked.  
"Well, I swear i just heard...no…" He paused "It's ridiculous."  
"What is ridiculous?" The older male questioned, to which the younger one sighed and replied.

"Well, It...I...I think i just heard my mother."


	5. Hello Darren

**Chapter Five**

"Now my young Prince…" A fifth voice spoke, and it was instantly recognisable to all, as Vancha March stepped out of the shadows from behind the group. "I think you'll find that, is completely impossible."

"VANCHA!" The other male boomed in delight, "You made it here alright, aye?"  
"Aye!" Vancha grinned "Been here about ten minutes, I've been trying to explain to her-" He jerked his thumb back, "About us! But she doesn't believe a word of it!"  
Meanwhile, back in the damp, blackness of the tunnels, Angela Shan was having a panic attack. Her breathing rate increased, clutching her chest in pain, as the reality of the situation began to dawn on her. "It's him." She puffed, still trying to remain quiet "It's actually him."  
"Angela." Dermot swung around to face her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders, and squeezing them a little. "Angie, listen to me."  
"No. It's him, but it can't be him. but it is-IT'S HIM." She shouted the last bit of the sentence a little too loudly, and it echoed loudly down the tunnel. Dermot spun, expecting the group in the cavern to come charging in, but they didn't. Instead, one of them shouted.  
"Who is there?" It was the elder male; When there was no response, the smaller figure intervened.  
"Do you want...me to go check?"  
"No." Vancha scowled "We'll wait for them to show themselves."  
"And...if they don't?"  
"Then we kill them." He said it so casually, as if it was normal for him to murder people, as if the news stories were right.

"You won't kill them." Darren contradicted quietly, but was greeted by only looks of confusion. "Would you be so quick as to kill my own family?"  
"What do you mean, Darren?" The female questioned, just a confused as everyone else-Maybe even more so.  
"Mum, Dad…" Darren ignored her, instead directing his attention to the tunnels "You can come out now."  
"Now Darren." The older male huffed "Do not be so ridiculous. Your Parents are not, nor will they ever be-" His correction was cut short, by two pairs of slow footsteps, and a murmur of shaky voices.  
"Darren?" Angela cried, taking cautious steps towards her son, whilst still clinging to her husbands side. "Is it...is it really you?" Darren nodded, ignoring the rest of his friends around them who were continuously glancing between him and the two humans that had now entered the cavern.  
"Hello Mum." For the first time in a while, a genuine smile tugged at the corner of the young boys lips "Hello Dad."  
"It's...it's actually you…" Dermot quivered "But what? How? Just wh-" His questions were cut short, as he and his wife slumped to the floor unconscious, to reveal Larten, and a grinning Vancha stood behind them.  
"Well, that solves that problem!" Vancha grinned sarcastically, gently nudging Angela with his foot; Whilst Dermot had been talking, the two elder vampires had stuck behind the pair of them, and-using the knock-out gas they, as fully blooded vampires, could produce, they had, well, knocked them out.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" The young vampire prince yelled angrily, his face turning bright red as tears rolled down his cheeks. "MY PARENTS-why would you…?" He trailed off mid-sentence, taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Taking a seat in the middle of the floor, he was soon joined there by the others.  
"That is the problem, Sire." Larten sighed "They are your parents." Before Larten had chance to continue, and just upset Darren more, Debbie grabbed the younger vampires hand and squeezed it tightly.  
"How did they find him?" She interrupted Larten, asking the question she assumed everyone wished they knew the answer to.  
"I don't know." Vancha shrugged, causing Larten to sigh again.  
"Nor do I."  
"I do…" Darren muttered; everyone was intrigued. "The news story." he explained "The media will be broadcasting it everywhere, won't they? Suspected murderers escaped, it'll be all over the news."  
"Broadcasting it that...far?" Harkat asked, he had been to Darrens hometown, and knew it was a few hours from where they were now.  
"Aye-" Larten began, but was cut off by Vanchas hostage, who had-after being silent all this time-once again began to squirm. "Is that the police chief?"  
"Aye." Vancha winked "And a beauty if i've ever seen one." Standing up, he walked over to the woman in the corner "Like i was saying, I've been trying to explain things to her, but she doesn't believe it."  
"It's not very believable…" Debbie scoffed.  
"You seemed to believe it!" Vancha contradicted "I'll try one more time, and-"  
"No." Darren corrected. "Just untie her. She can believe us if she wants, If she doesn't then we do something about her."  
"Don't say that, Darren." Debbie pleaded as Vancha untied his Hostage; Even though he was the eldest prince in the room, he didn't want to argue with the younger one. Not at a time like this.  
"So...What do we do with them?" Darren questioned, and everyone automatically knew who he meant, they didn't need to ask.  
"I do not know. They will wake soon. We could just leave them?" Larten suggested.  
"I'm not leaving them."  
"How about we take them...to the surface and...leave them there?" Harkat assumed his friend would be up to that idea, it would mean his parents would be much safer than they were down here.  
"I am not leaving them." The words were simply repeated, as the young boy made his choice completely clear.  
"GET OFF OF ME!" Before anyone had time to come up with any more ideas, A scream came from behind them. Vancha had untied his hostage, and was now attempting to help her up off the floor.  
"Of course, my lady." He grinned, releasing her, as she got to her feet.  
"Creep." She pat, before turning to the others. "Vampires." she snickered "Yeah right." Before any of the males had chance to argue back, Debbie spoke.  
"Yes, Vampires. Real vampires" She growled. "I know it seems impossible. But. It's.. True." She slowed the last three words as Vancha had before, but the woman only shook her head.  
"You're completely mental, the lot of you! I still haven't made up my mind, but what can i do?" she asked rhetorically "I'll stay with you. I give you my word. But if i find out you're lying, and I can almost guarantee that i will, i will have every single one of you hung, drawn and quartered; No matter what the law says." Upon hearing the end of her threat Vancha chuckled.  
"I do love a fierce woman." He laughed, before sitting back down with his friends, only to be greeted by depressed expressions that stuck to their faces. "So, what are we going to do?"  
Darren blinked slowly, taking one last look at his friends, before staring at his parents. He took a long, deep breath before answering-not knowing how much his answer would affect them all, he raised his head, and confidently stated. "I want to tell them the truth."


	6. Revelations

**Chapter Six**

The silence lasted less than a second, when Debbie spoke up. "Darren!" She gasped, shaking her head. "You know you can't do that!" He didn't move, but a thin smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"You're turning into Mr Crepsley." Darren grinned; his voice calmer than everyone had expected. "Telling me what i can and can't do." He explained, as he stood up, and walked towards his parents, pausing only as when his shadow darkened their faces. Next time he spoke, his voice was more agitated. "You don't understand! None of you do! They're my parents. MY FAMILY." The last two words echoed throughout the cavern, as the young prince began to sob. "...My family…" Before anyone had time to say anything, not that any words would have been help, loud music filled the room. Darren's head flicked up instantly, the sound familiar to his ears-It had been his favourite song, back when he was a child; back when he was still human. He hadn't heard it for years. Looking back to where everyone was sat on the floor, he managed a small smile. Larten was sat with his hands over his ears, yelling to "Turn that infernal racket off." whilst Vancha was instead screaming about the "Horrible sounds."Darren looked at Harkat, who didn't seem bothered by the noise, and then to Debbie, who smiled kindly. She pointed at Dermot, but Darren just looked confused. "It's obviously his phone!" The police chief yelled over the noise, in response to Darren's confusion. "Answer it then!" Following her instructions, he bent down to his father, and gently slid his hand into Dermots pocket, before pulling out his mobile phone; The screen was lit, and the music was blasting from the small speaker on the back. Darren answered it, without thinking, without even looking who was calling first. He was in no way prepared for what he heard. "Dad?" The voice on the other end of the phone quivered, causing Darren to stutter in response. "A-A-Annie?"  
"I need help, Dad." Annie cried, obviously not realising it wasn't Dermot on the phone; she was scared, and Darrens voice sounded very similar to his fathers. It was an easy mistake to make. "I'm back by the manhole cover, Me and Darius."  
"Darius?" The vampire questioned; he had no knowledge of his nephew, he didn't even know he existed.  
"Yeah." Annie continued "And i know you told us to go find a hotel, but I couldn't leave you and mum, and now i'm scared."  
"Annie." Darrens voice grew more sturdy "Don't worry, I'll send someone up to get you, yeah? Where did you say you were?"  
"I'm where we saw that man-the one with the green hair and that woman. Hurry, there are these guys – I think they want to go down to the sewers and...And" Annie took a deep breath before continuing "I think they're purple and they're not normal and I'm scared." Darren, suddenly alert to the amount of Danger Annie and Darius were in, shot a glance at Mr Crepsley. The ginger vampire looked confused for a few seconds, before realising what Darren wanted him to do. he stood to leave, and go rescue The Shan daughter, when Vancha insisted he accompanied him. "I've sent these two guys- one of them is the one with green hair. Just listen to them. Ok?" Darren instructed, after telling The two older vampires where to find his sister, and the pair of them rushed off back into the tunnels.

"But Dad, why can't you and..." Annie began.

"I can't, we can't. Just trust the men, ok?" There was a pause before Annie sighed and agreed. "Good, now I have to go."  
"No, Dad...please…" But before he could beg anymore, Darren hung up, and chucked the phone to Harkat. "How should I know?" Darren huffed. Before the two of them could get in an argument the police chief interrupted them. "I told you it was his phone." She must have sounded much cockier than she had intended to, because Darren snapped at her; his mood instantly changing from depressed to simply angry.  
"Well then, I guess we should listen to you then should we...um...er..." He paused, realising he didn't know her name.  
"Alice."  
"Alice. What should we do now then? Huh?" When Alice stayed silent Darren raised his eyebrow at her questioningly, taking her silence as an inability to answer, he continued "You don't know? Then maybe you should just shut up and let me get on with my life."  
"Don't be so mean!" Debbie scowled "She was only trying to help..."

"I know, it's just...It's just... my family!" Darren sighed, as his mood switched yet again. He sat back down on the dirt floor, enclosed between Debbie and Harkat; within seconds Alice had joined them, though she sat a few centimetres wide of the trio. "Now what do...we do?" Harkat asked.  
"I guess we..." Debbie began before Darren cut her off, nudging her in the ribs with his elbow. "Ow!" she screeched. Darren wasn't thinking straight, he had forgotten his own strength, and hit her way too hard-It would certainly leave a bruise. "What was that for?" she questioned, when Darren didn't reply, she asked Harkat instead. "Any idea?"  
I think it's because...of that." Harkat answered, extending his small grey finger to point to where the Two elder Shans lay, and were beginning to stir. Darren stared at them both, mouth agape, totally unprepared for this moment. He slid himself backwards slightly as his mother shakily got to her feet. "Dermot, dear." she sighed "I had the weirdest of dreams, you were there and Annie was there and Darius was there." As she spoke she walked across the room, obviously not realising she wasn't in the safety or comfort of her own home. "And...And Darren was there. Anyway" She shook her head "No point in going on about it, it was only a dream." Walking past her son, she smiled at him kindly, not noticing the fact that, well, he was alive and there, Though it took no less than a minute for that to change. Her foot hanging in midair, she paused, and turned to face him. "D-Darren? Darren!" She ran up to him, grabbed his arms and pulled him off the floor, before embracing him in what was quite possibly one of the biggest hugs he had ever received.  
"Hi Mum, I..I love you too." He puffed, struggling to breathe as his mothers grip tightened. "Now, could you please...I can't breathe…"  
"I'm sorry, it's just...Darren!" She loosed her clasp slightly, but didn't let go. Meanwhile, Dermot was also waking up, and was just as unaware as his wife had been.  
"Annie? Ang? Is that you?" He muttered, but everyone ignored him as he pulled himself up. Debbie and Harkat, instead, stood watching Darren and his mother, small smiles across their faces. Debbies was much more of a loving smile, whilst Harkat was about to burst into a fit of laughter-seeing Darren get crushed like that was very amusing to him. Dermot didn't find the situation so amusing, and struggled to get the next string of words out of his mouth. "Darren?" He blinked, finally coming to his senses. "Darren?"  
"Hi Dad." Darren wheezed, getting crushed again "Could you please get mum...to get off of me?"  
"Darren? Oh my...Darren?" Dermot ignored him, but Angelas grip loosened, and she took a step back and smiled at him.

"Yes." Darren nodded to his father, once his mother had let him go. "I know, I know. I was dead but...uh...apparently i'm not?" The boy grinned guiltily, whilst his parents gawped.  
"What? How? What? Why? WHAT?"  
"Yeeeeep" Darren laughed at his dads questions, and shook his head-his father never had been good with words.

"Uh, Darren?" Debbie hesitated "If you're...you know, going to tell them, it might be best for them to sit down?" Darren nodded, ushering his parents to take seats on the floor, before facing them.  
"As you may have..um..guessed, i'm slightly, maybe, kind of alive?" When his parents didn't respond, Debbie broke in.

"What Darren is trying to say is...he loves you very much and is sorry he lied to you?" she said uncertainly.

"YOU!" Angela reacted quickly, suddenly gaining extreme amounts of rage "YOU TOOK MY SON AWAY FROM US! YOU MONSTER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She yelled at Debbie who cautiously took a couple of steps back.

"NO MUM!" Darren interrupted "It wasn't her. This is Debbie, and Harkat," he told her, pointing towards the little person "And this is Alice. They're my friends; they wouldn't do anything to hurt me." He grinned, but not without a sharp warning glare directed at the police chief.

"No...No, its not true…" Angela cried "They took you away from us...From me!" Again, she burst into tears, causing her husband to embrace her in a hug.  
"Listen to him, Ang...just...listen…" He instructed, smiling at his son who returned the gesture.

"So...um.." Darren stuttered, trying find the right words to begin his story, "It all started in a toilet?" He began, knowing that his parents would need to know everything. At first they didn't interrupt him-neither did alice and Debbie, who had never heard the full story either. " "And there was this spider-she was the most beautiful thing in the world." Darren continued before his mom interrupted him.

"The spider? Madam Octa? The spider..." Darren nodded, but frowned-it was very unlike Annie to tell their parents his secrets, especially important ones like this. That wasn't important right now though, so he carried on-explaining how steve was bitten, and how he had forced Annie to keep quiet about it. Then he began to explain how he had made the deal to get the antidote. "See, um...this man...This Larten man" He stalled, unwilling to tell them that he had lost his humanity. "He said he'd give me the antidote if...um…" He took a deep breath "Ifiagreedtobecomeavampire!"

"What?" Dermot asked tearfully; Darren had rushed through the last sentence, it had been unintelligible.

"Tell them Darren." Debbie urged him.

"If I...If I agreed...If I agreed to...become a vampire?" He half expected his parents to burst out laughing, but they didn't. They stared at him in shock. "Nonsense." Dermot exploded. "This 'Larten guy' was feeding you complete Nonsense. Vampires aren't real! None of this is! This is just some illusion...a side effect of the new vitamin tablets I'm taking! Darren's dead and I'm asleep on the couch in front of the TV!" He grinned.

"Dermot..." Angela sighed "Dermot calm down. I...I know it seems impossible but...I have this feeling. Something telling me it's true! All of it..."

"NO! Nonsense, baloney, hogwash!" Dermot shouted "ALL OF IT!"

"You...you want proof?" Darren asked shakily.

"There is no proof because it's not true." Darren thought for a minute before calling Harkat, who was still sat in the shadows out of the direct torchlight.

"What do you...want?" The little person asked.

"Will you come here please? I think it's time you met my...my...my parents." Darren grinned, his parents wanted proof so proof was what he'd give them. "You want proof? Here's your proof!"

He shone his torch on Harkats face. Angela, Dermot and Alice-who had never seen Harkat properly before-Stared at him, eyes wide and jaws dropped.

"He's just...just a poor man. He's injured, that's all!" Angela stuttered.

"No." Harkat corrected her "I'm a...resurrected corpse."

"Yeah...yeah right." Dermot laughed shakily before falling to the ground-He had fainted.

"You're Dad never was very good with things like this." Angela laughed nervously-trying to break the tension.

"You...you believe me?" Darren asked, astonished.

"You're my son and I'll believe anything you say." She smiled, Darren looked at her happily before continuing with this story- Dermot would just have to hear it later. Angela listened intently; she didn't interrupt him, even when she wanted to. She sat and watched her son, trying to control the flow of tears that escaped her eyes. The worse bit came when Darren explained about his 'death', she was shocked- horrified, and Darren could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to kill the monster that would take a harmless child away from his family (A.K.A. Larten Crepsley-who was still away getting Annie and Darius!) One thing caught his attention though- whenever he mentioned Steve his mother's eyes would burn with hatred- Hatred almost stronger than Darren's, for this reason-and the reason that he had a very overprotective mother- he didn't tell her about Steve's promise in the graveyard or about him ever coming back into Darren's life. He explained about his travels with the cirque and hen about Vampire mountain- When he mentioned his trials of initiation Angela burst into tears again, obviously upset by how much pain Darren had been through. He ignored that fact, not wanting to get off subject and explained about his life up until now, by the end of it Angela was almost sitting in a puddle of tears. Her face was bright red and she was shaking uncontrollably. . Darren, Debbie, Harkat and Alice all stared at her, wondering what she was going to do next. "Vampires? Vampaneze?" Angela cried "It seems impossible..." before she could talk anymore footsteps echoed in the tunnel coming towards the room. Vancha entered, a large smile on his face, he was closely followed by Mr Crepsley and behind him was Annie- she looked absolutely terrified, but it wasn't his sister than Darren noticed first. It was the pram that she was pushing in front of her. "Mum? Dad?" Annie asked shakily, looking around her.

Annie?" Angela cried. "What are you doing here? What? How?"

"Mum...Where's dad?"

"He's...he may have...that doesn't matter," Angela said, "There's someone who you need to see..."

"Who? What is it? Have you found..." She stared in front of her in shock, Darren stood waving at her. "DARREN!" she exclaimed. "I knew it was true, I told them it was you...but how?"

"Hi, sis!" Darren grinned, not taking his eyes off of the pram which now lay abandoned at the chambers entrance. "Is there...Is there someone I need to meet?" he asked nervously, nodding his head in the direction of the pram.

"That's...that's Darius!" Annie smiled "He's...He's my...He's my son!"

"Son?" Annie was always a child to him, to think of her having her own child wasn't easy at all.

"That's Darius but enough about him, what about you? How is it possible...I knew it was you! I just knew it!"

"It's a long story." Darren said, through tears that were now starting to fall.

"Oh, Annie! It's him!" Angela exclaimed.

"Not meaning to be rude, but I am guessing that we all already know that it is him." A voice came from the darkness. "My name is Larten." He bowed to the too Shan women. Annie stared at him but Angela's eyes widened with Anger. "Larten Crepsley." "YOU!" Angela let go of Annie's hand-which she had grabbed when they were speaking- and charged towards Larten, a fierce glare spread across her face . "YOU STOLE MY BABY!" She yelled. Larten gulped, stepping back, and getting ready to face the wrath of the angry, over-protective mother...


	7. Trouble

**Chapter Seven (The Second update of the day :) )**

"I am very sorry." Larten apologised, but Angela took no notice.

"YOU MONSTER!" she screamed "YOU UTTER MONSTER!" Larten took another step back as she approached him. "I HATE YOU! YOU STOLE HIM AWAY AND FED HIM ALL THIS NONSENSE ABOUT VAMPIRES AND VAMPANEZE!"

"It is not nonsense, it is fact." The orange-haired vampire insisted, but-once again-She ignored him.

"Fact?" she questioned sarcastically, "Of course it's fact...how could I not see it?"

"See, it is not that hard to believe."

"Larten, she's being sarcastic." Debbie grinned.

"SHUT UP, YOU!" Angie shouted at Debbie, causing the younger woman to stare at her in shock.

"Don't start with me." Debbie replied.

"I'll start with you if I want to; you're in on this as well. NONSENSE. ALL. OF. IT! YOU HELPED THESE LUNATICS STEAL HIM! HOW COULD YOU?"

"Mum, please, d-"Darren began, the initial shock of the situation fading, but Debbie interrupted him, screaming at his mother.

"HOW COULD I WHAT? LOOK AFTER HIM? CARE FOR HIM? Well," she spat "I've done a better job at looking after him than you."

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"Oh, I dare. I've known him longer than you have and you're supposed to be his mother."

"I AM his mother, and I'm a good mother"

"That's the not the way I see it..." Debbie replied smugly "See, you were such a good mother that your only son decided to fake his death and run away with a stranger just to get away from you." She smiled sweetly, awaiting Angela's reply. She knew that wasn't why Darren left but she said it anyway. Angela stood still for a moment, breathing deeply- staring at Debbie with a strong hatred. Then, she lost it. She ran kicking and screaming straight into Debbie's chest wrestling her to the ground.  
"GET THIS CRAZY COW OFF OF ME!" Debbie screeched as her face gained multiple scratches. Harkat and Larten ran to her aid, trying to pull Angela off. It didn't work because as soon as Debbie had been freed, Angela started on Larten. She kicked him and punched him as hard as she could, and Larten just stood there-taking the blows. He could have stopped her within a second but was worried about hurting her; if he hurt her Darren would never forgive him. Once Debbie had come back to her senses, she jumped onto Angela's back, scratching and clawing at her face. The three of them stayed like that for a few seconds. Debbie attacking Angela, who was attacking Larten, who was stood still, leaving Angela to it. They only stopped when Annie stepped out of the shadows.

"STOP!" she yelled, her scream echoing off the walls of the cavern. Everyone in the room froze-except Darren, who was already frozen with shock. "That's better. Now, You." She said, pointing to Debbie. "Get off of my mum." When Debbie didn't reply, she screamed at her. "OFF!" The woman jumped down straight away and backed against the wall slowly, ashamed of her behaviour. "And mum." Annie continued, tears streaming down her pale cheeks "How could you? Just, leave that man alone. He took my brother, and I'll always hate him for that, but he looked after him, and I bet you anything that Darren loves him." She cried. Everyone's head turned to Darren, who was looking at Annie in confusion, "It's sort of, kind of, in a way..." he stuttered "Ok. The truth. I love you Mr Crepsley, like a father. In fact, I've always thought of you as my father. I think of you as my father, I always will do. I look up to you and respect you and even when you're cross or angry or annoyed, or annoying," he laughed "I just, well, think I'm lucky to have such an awesome mentor and someone I can aspire to be like when I'm older." He blinked back tears and smiled at his mentor, who returned the gesture. The room stayed silent for a few seconds, even Darius had stopped crying and was smiling happily. "Well, I guess um..." Larten grinned "I...um..." Larten pushed Angela away from him and took a step towards his assistant. "I guess, in a metaphorical way of speaking, you are my son." He smiled and pulled Darren in for a hug. Darren expected this to aggravate his mother more, but it didn't. She fell to her knees; fresh tears rolling from the corners of her eyes. "His father..." she mumbled "He...thinks of him...as a father!" She cried, watching Darren pull away from Larten. "But Dermot...what about Dermot?" she asked her Son, who stared at her blankly "He's your real father and...You don't...but..." She stopped and crawled over to where Darren was stood. "He's your real father Darren, look at him." She said, indicating to where Dermot lay, still trying to pull himself up. Darren didn't know what to say, he still loved his human father but all of his love and loyalties lay with Mr Crepsley and the Clan now. Luckily for him, Harkat decided to speak up.

"Um...Mrs Shan?" Angela flicked her head around to where the voice came from. "I've known your son...for years now...and I'm sure he...loves his father...very much but...he's moved on." He puffed.

"But He's still his father..." She insisted in reply.

"Who's whose father?" Dermot asked, he had finally managed to get himself to his feet.

"DERMOT!" Angela shouted, running over to hug her husband. "It's Darren and...The maniac...and the father thing." She cried into his shoulder.

"What are you on about?" he asked, before noticing Darren "Darren? I knew it was...how is this possible?"

"It's a long story." Darren laughed "I'll explain it later-promise." He winked at his father who stared at him in shock.

"Mum? Dad?" Annie spoke again. "It's just that...um..." she took a deep breath before continuing I know it's a shock to see Darren, it is to me but it's a wonderful shock. Who cares about how much he loves you? He's been gone for nearly 15 years...you should be grateful he does still love you. For all you know he could have forgotten us." She trailed off into silence.

"What? I'd never do that. Darren objected. "I've always loved you, Always and no matter how much I love anyone else, you'll always have a place in my heart. I hated being away from you but I had to leave. That's why I left, because I love my friends and family so much that I couldn't bear to let them die."

"What do you-"Dermot began before Darren interrupted him again.

"If I hadn't had left, then one of my best friends would have died, you'd still have me but I'd have that on my conscience and I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"I wish he had died. Better for all of us..." Angela muttered under her breath, but all the vampires heard her.

"What do you mean?" Darren asked "Why would you...You want Steve to die?" He asked in dis-belief, and the three other Shans nodded. "Why though? You were really worried about him and..." He stopped, thinking about it. They couldn't have ever figured out what happened that night in the graveyard could they? No-they were shocked to see him alive-if they knew about the graveyard then they knew that Darren was alive, but what then?

"We'll, we'll...explain later." Annie promised, picking Darius up and holding him close to her.

"Yeah, not meaning to break up the happy family or anything..." Vancha spoke; he had been so quiet that everyone had forgotten he was there. "But since we're talking about Leonard, Hadn't we better..." he broke off, indicating to the large door behind him.

"Um...Yeah, of course." Darren whispered, "I forgot...sorry."

"What are you going on about?" Annie asked. Darren hesitated before replying.

"Remember I told you about that lord?" Both Angela and Annie nodded-though everyone could see dis-belief in Angela's eyes. "Well, we're here to fight him...and I have to go." He said before his family could protest. "It's my duty and I have to. We all do." He said.

"All, as in us?" Angela asked.

"No mum. All as in, everyone apart from you guys. Go home, go live normal lives away from us." Darren sighed; they had to go, no matter how much it would pain him for them to leave again.

"No, son." Angela spoke "If you have to fight this...Lord, person, we're coming with you. All the Shan's together. Isn't that right guys?" She looked for her family for support, they all nodded slowly.

"But what about Darius and Annie?"

"He'll come with us..."

"But it's none of your concern. YOU'LL GET KILLED."

"We don't mind," Annie answered "I'd rather die with you than spend another day without you." She smiled.

"No, please..."The young prince started to cry "You can't...I don't..." he looked to his mentor for help.

"Let them come if they must. They are human but they shall be of help to us." Larten said.

"WHAT? No..."

"We're coming Darren and that's final." Dermot insisted. "Do you even know who this lord person is?" Darren shook his head slowly, not happy of his family's decision. "Then why are you going after him?"

"We have to..." Darren frowned "It's our duty and..." he sighed, thinking about telling his family the truth. "I know one of his friends, his warriors, and I bet you do as well..." He closed his eyes and spoke loudly "The other guy we're fighting, the one that isn't the lord...its Steve. Steve Leonard." He blinked as he turned back around, and looked at the horror on his family's faces, and the disgust that shone in all their eyes.

"Steve..." Annie broke the horrible silence. "Now there's nothing you can do to stop be going in there and fighting with you."

"Steve..." Angela repeated "I'll do whatever it takes to keep him out of our lives forever."

"Steve..."Dermot said again "Darren," he smiled at his son "Lead the way..." Darren stared at his family, why did they hate Steve so much? Darren had a reason to but did they? What had happened after he had left? It must have been something terrible for them to detest him as much as they did. Larten walked forward and grinned at all the Shan "You all need weapons, but I must say, you all have Great Spirit and would make for fine members of our clan."

"Don't even think about that; don't ever say anything like that." Darren scowled at his mentor "They're my family, not my clan."

"I am sorry Darren..." He smiled, but the smile lasted less than 10 seconds "Now let us go."

"I can't." Darren said "They can't come with us...not until they know the whole truth."

"What truth?" Larten questioned.

"Well," Darren wet his lips and prepared to speak "The truth that is we go in there and return failures, it's very unlikely that more than one of us will return..."


	8. The Vampaneze Await

**Chapter Eight**

The silence seemed to last an eternity-you could feel the anxiousness as Darren waited for his parents to reply-it swirled in thick invisible tendrils in the air, almost consuming him whole. He could swear he was going to die-if they didn't reply soon then it would kill him, he was sure of it.

"Then I hope-for the sake of all of us-that we win."Angela spoke-and it wasn't the answer that Darren wanted.

"No..." He cried "Please-that was supposed to...you were supposed to...YOU COULD DIE!" He stared at them, waiting for a reply, but all they did was stare at him back blankly. "You could die..." He mumbled quietly and Annie shook her head.

"Darren. We're with you on this-we always have been. Anything you do-we do with you. We'd rather die than leave you again..." she cried "Please, we can't lose you-not like this-not again." Before Darren could reply, Vancha spoke.

"Right!" he grinned "That's enough moping around, Time to go I think!" He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Stepping back into the shadows, he stepped towards the pile of weapons-picked up an axe and chucked it towards Harkat who caught it by the handle. "Not bad, Mulds!" He laughed, causing Harkat to grin under his mask. "Hmm...And for the beautiful lady," He picked up a small knife-the smallest in the pile-and held it out to Alice, who snorted.

"You're a maniac, March!" She commented-but she still took the knife out of his hands- and Vancha smiled.

"Never anything but..." he laughed, before turning to Darren. His smile dropped and his face Darkened "Grab a weapon, Shan." he ordered "I know you care about your family-but the clan comes first. They want to come, I'm not stopping them but I'm not wasting my time trying to convince them to stay here." He grabbed a shrunken out of his belt and chucked it across the room. It went flying through the air and landed less than an inch above Dermot's head. Dermot jumped to the ground almost immediately, but not before he screamed. "Besides..." Vancha added "They seem to be alert to danger; it might do them good to experience a real thrill!"

Darren sighed- He couldn't object now, even if he wanted to. Vancha was the elder prince and his orders had to be followed. Silently, the half-vampire walked over to the pile of weapons and picked up a sword. He spun it in his hands a few time-then raised it above his head, just to get the feel of it. After nodding its approval he bent down, picked up some smaller knifes, turned back around and held them in front of him. His face was hard and cold-it showed no emotion. At first no one understood what he was doing, but then Debbie gasped-realising what he wanted. "No Darren! You can't...they can't...You can't give them knifes!"

"Why not?" he asked blankly, sadly "They want to come with us? Then they need weapons-they need to defend themselves." He took a step forward towards his family and thrust the knifes towards them. They stared at them in shock, but Annie was the first to put out her shaking hand and take one. Darren nodded slowly, and then looked at his parents. They shook their heads sadly, but didn't object. They both shakily reached out and grabbed a knife-Angela looked as though she was going to burst into tears. "Anyone who hasn't got a weapon-grab one now. We go, we fight, and we win." Darren growled. "Dying isn't an option-now come on, let's go."

Everyone was shocked by his directness-his sudden determination-but nobody spoke. They walked like soldiers, marching silently to the door at the edge of the cavern. Darren stood for a few seconds, fiddling with the locks of the door-and stood back as they all fell loose. No one questioned how he knew the combination to the locks, and no one asked. When the door slid open they all stepped through it-apart from the human Shans. "What are you waiting for?" Darren growled at them "You want to come with us-so go." When they didn't move he screamed at them "LET'S GO!" Angela whimpered when her son shouted, and grabbed her husband's hand for comfort. Darius had already started to fall asleep in his pram-undisturbed by the commotion. Annie stepped forward first-she followed everyone else through the door, pushing Darius with her. When his parents still didn't move Darren spat at them "cowards," he snarled "Both of you..." Then we walked through the door, leaving his parents behind him.

Through the door was a tunnel that lasted for Five or Six metres-they could a red light glowing at the end of it- and they concentrated on only what was in front of them. Darren heard the shuffle of footsteps behind him-his parents had finally decided to follow-but he didn't turn to see them. He only walked forward. Eventually the tunnel opened up into a cavern bigger and grander than the one before it. It was oval in shape, the walls were smooth and the ceiling was extremely high. Three huge silver chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each one carrying dozens of bright red candles that burned brightly, illuminating the darkness of the room. Near the opposite end of the cavern was a platform raised on Four huge pillars, a long wooden plank adjoined the back left of the platform to a large gap in the whole-a possible escape route? Near the front right of the platform was a rope, joining the ground in front of the vampires and humans to the platform above them. Vancha took a step forward, his eyes flickering in all directions looking out for a sign of any vampaneze-when he saw the coast was clear, he moved forward some more. Everyone all followed him slowly, moving a step at a time, keeping their weapons poised. Annie now held Darius in her arms and had discarded the pram-his head was resting on her shoulder and he was falling asleep, not realising the danger he was in. Everyone spread out into a line across the cavern-Harkat and Larten near the centre, guarding Vanchas back as he edged even further ahead. "Stop!" He spoke suddenly, his voice was firm yet quiet. Larten looked at him and raised an eyebrow, wondering what he'd seen-in reply Vancha beckoned him forward. He was staring at the ground in front of him in concentration "Can you smell that, Larten?" he asked and Larten nodded his head.

"Petrol." The ginger vampire replied bluntly.

"Aye, and it's coming from this hole..." he indicated to the floor in front of him which, as they moved closer, everyone saw was not just the floor but a pit. It was oval like the cavern, and the pillars connecting the platform to the ground spurted from it-it stunk highly of petrol, which was puzzling, but the thing that alarmed the vampires the most was that the pit was lined with hundreds of wooden stakes-each one steel tipped and at least two metres tall. "By the black blood of Harnon Oan!" Larten Cursed when he saw the stakes-Debbie gasped again, and it looked like she was going to faint but she stayed strong. Angela looked ill-she wanted to puke-but she couldn't. She wouldn't-Darren had called her a coward, and she needed to prove him wrong.

"This is sick..." Alice broke the awkward silence. "Actually sick! What crazy bastards would do this?"

"The vampaneze..." Darren growled "But what do they want us to do? Surely we could just continue forward-they want us to climb to the platform?"

"Of course.." Vancha smirked.

"We could skirt the pit and climb the wall?" Mr Crepsley suggested, causing the green-haired prince to frown.

"If only.." he smiled "No-we can't. Look closer at the wall..." Larten looked, as did Darren and Harkat-their eyes widened as they realised what they saw. It took Harkat a few seconds longer than the vampires to notice what he was looking for, but he found it.

"Bullet holes..." He noted. He was right-the wall was lined with hundreds of tiny holes, each one perfect for firing bullets at unsuspecting Vampires or little people.

"A trap?" Debbie guessed, which caused the police chief to frown.

"If set a trap then why here? Why not somewhere in the tunnels where they couldn't miss? They haven't got as much a chance of hitting you in here..." She stated.

"Because..." Larten explained "It is not a trap-knowing Leonard, this is part of some scheme of his. He wants to play with us because he tries to kill us."

"Like I said..." Alice repeated "Sick..."

"I like to think more as...genius?" A voice came from up above-startling the people on the ground. "What do you think, Gannen?" The voice was all too familiar-Steve Leonard. Everyone expected Gannen Harst to speak next, but he remained silent-he must have nodded. Their heads flicked up automatically. Stony faced Steve Leonard was stood on the platform, smirking. Next to him stood Gannen Harst-Vanchas brother and official protector of the lord of the Vampaneze, but the lord was nowhere to be seen. Angela and Dermot growled as they saw Steve, and Annie took a few cautious steps backwards, but he didn't seem startled to see them-if he did then he was hiding it. "Oh, look at this!" He grinned "All the Shans-back together at last!" he frowned as he saw the boy in Annie's arms, but said no more about it. To everyone's surprise, it was Angela who spoke next "I loved you Steve, you were like family to me-to us..." she spat "Now look at the monster you've become..."

"I'm no monster!" Steve snapped back "It's your precious little son who's the monster-did he tell you about how he betrayed me? Or did he tell you a lie? The same Bullshit he told me" he shook his head, "it doesn't matter-because at least I know the truth-though it would have been nice to hear some truth out of Darren before I rip him to shreds!" He laughed. At this, Vancha flipped-he pulled a shrunken from his belt and chucked it to the platform-it sailed straight above Steves head and hit the wall behind him. "Careful, March! Don't get too cocky..." Vancha muttered angrily under his breath then nodded his head in Gannens direction. "Brother..." he greeted him.

"Brother..." Gannen replied-in the same mechanical fashion.

"Now shall we settle this? Where's your lord, Leonard?" Vancha shouted "It's him we want.."

"Patience, Vancha, Patience! You'll see him soon enough, but first-"

"No games, Leonard!" Larten interrupted him "Where is he? Let us see him or pay the price!" Steve sighed theatrically, as if the vampires were boring him, then he nodded at Gannen.

"My lord.." The vampaneze spoke no louder than a whisper, but it was loud enough for his lords' ears to hear. A hooded figure stepped from the gap in the wall and over the plank, standing between Gannen and Steve. "Happy now?" Steve grinned "Now let's move on to something more interesting..." He looked towards the lord of the vampaneze, who nodded quickly. Steve whispered something to himself, then he spoke to his supposed audience. "Ready to die?" Before they could reply, they froze. Dozens of vampaneze were dropping from holes in the wall-that had been so high up that they were unnoticeable. Mixed with them were Vampets too, each one dressed the same-and each carrying a gun. The humans, Vampires and Harkat grouped together as the vampaneze and Vampets surrounded them-They were fully surrounded, no escape route possible, but they all had weapons and they were all prepared. As if giving his friends and family a signal, Darren was the only one to speak "get ready..." he whispered "To unleash Hell..."


End file.
